Ryan Lee – DotComXpo

I did not believe the numbers. It was a 6-figure weekend after expenses. Let’s be real, DCX brought home about 30% less than up-Front income is higher than other events in which I allowed speakers “pitch”.

Ryan Lee – DotComXpo

 
This week, I decided to try something new and take a chance. It was a calculated risk, but it was still a risk.
The goal: To see if it’s possible to run an “Internet marketing” event (called DotComXpo) with no speakers pitching from the stage while still making it affordable for attendees (and profitable for the producer.. which is me!).
There were some challenges…
1. High?-Are speakers of calibre willing to present content and not sell from the stage?
2. Could I find sponsors to offset my production expenses?
3. Could I make? “the numbers” work?
4. Is this the type of event that people would be willing to travel to, spend up to $1,000, and take time from their families to attend?
THE RESULTS
There were two ways to measure the success of DCX… The feedback forms and the bank balance.
First, let’s talk about Feedback forms. I’ve been doing live events for over 15 years (starting when I used to work at Blythedale Children’s Hospital) and I have never had feedback be so strong. Not even close.
When asked how they would rate DCX, almost everyone answered with a 9. In reality, the average score was 9.36. There were four 8s, and one was because there were so many great sessions during the session. “tactical labes” The other was due to slow hotel wifi), but that was it. Almost all forms had phrases similar to JoEllen Marks saying “this event was truly LIFE CHANGING” Ross Bowring – Saying “these strategies will add tens, or even hundreds of thousands of dollars to my client’s bottom lines”.
In the past, I’d always have up to 10% of the people who didn’t love the event, it’s just the nature of the business. You will never please everyone… but this year was different. I have never received 100% positive feedback from so many people. It was almost impossible to read through all the forms.
The speakers, the value of the sessions, the energy of the crowd, and the professionalism of the speakers were all highly praised by the attendees.-The pitch environment
Next, I looked the numbers… because numbers never lie. It was a 68% increase when you take into account registration fees, sponsors, and sales from bookstores.-figure weekend after expenses.
To be honest, DCX About 30% less up-front income was higher than other events in which I allowed speakers “pitch”. DCX was more expensive than other events, but the cost of registration for DCX was still higher. Some speakers could make as much as $100K in just an hour from the podium. The tradeoff was less sales volume and more registration revenue.
But, I know that the goodwill generated will pay off over the long term. My companies will be shared with friends by attendees. The event should generate a lot of buzz, which will likely result in thousands of copies of the videos being sold (which will likely outweigh the less revenue generated from the actual event).
Here is a thread on Facebook by Seth Larrabee, which discusses DCX. He even plugs it FounderFly (I didn’t post the entire thread but other people said things like “I’m in!” So it is making sales.
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